{"id":16341,"date":"2012-10-07T13:46:56","date_gmt":"2012-10-07T17:46:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/?p=16341"},"modified":"2012-10-10T16:28:13","modified_gmt":"2012-10-10T20:28:13","slug":"sheikh-arour-becomes-icon-of-the-the-revolutionary-military-councils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/sheikh-arour-becomes-icon-of-the-the-revolutionary-military-councils\/","title":{"rendered":"Sheikh Arour Becomes Icon of the the Revolutionary Military Councils"},"content":{"rendered":"

Addendum (October 10, 2012): <\/strong>This is a correction sent to me by my friend Thomas Pierret, who follows the sheikhs of Syria closely.<\/p>\n

Dear Joshua,
\nIn your last post on Syria Comment, you write that Adnan al-‘Ar’ur has become a hero for cursing Alawites. I tend to disagree with that for two reasons:<\/p>\n

1. The way al-‘Ar’ur is perceived by many, especially among minorities, has little to do with reality. In reality, al-‘Ar’ur does not speak much of the Alawites in his weekly TV programme, and he never “cursed” the community as a whole. His famous reference to “meat grinders” was very specific, it targeted “those who violated sanctities”, a reference to rapists. He made a very limited number of problematic statements regarding the Alawites but he’s never been “cursing” them. Accusations that he authorised the rape of Alawite girls a totally groundless.<\/p>\n

2. Since Alawites do not feature very prominently in his weekly TV programme, focusing on al-‘Ar’ur sectarianism doesn’t help understanding why he has become a hero to many in Syria. The main reason is that none else has devoted a two-hour long weekly TV show to the support of the Syrian revolution (his programme is called “With Syria until victory”). None else (either among the political opposition or other anti-regime clerics) has bothered directly addressing the Syrians on such a regular basis and in such an accessible (populist, if you prefer) way. Al-‘Ar’ur is not only talking about politics in his show, he also (and mostly) addresses daily problems Syrians are faced with, from ritual issues to death and rape at the hand of the regime’s forces.<\/p>\n

Best, Thomas, Lecturer in Contemporary Islam, University of Edinburgh<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Here is the video of the “Meat Grinder” speech for anyone who is interested. He divides Syrians into three categories: those who support the revolution, those who ignore it, and those who oppose it. He insists the judgement against those who are against us will be great. He speaks of the Alawites in particular at the end, saying that any Alawites who stand with “us” will be protected, but “those that stand against us will have their flesh ground in meat grinders and fed to the dogs.”<\/p>\n

Also read this article – <\/strong>Shaykh Adnan Araour is not the Imam of the Revolution, but he is certainly part of\u00a0it<\/a>. Posted on

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Original Post<\/strong> follows<\/p>\n

\"\"From Sunni friend who lives in Aleppo
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Islamic doctrine being championed by so many groups within the opposition has a major flaw: it condones interference into the beliefs and actions of any Syria to mend any wrong! This doctrine contradicts the constitutional rights and individual freedoms cherished by the civilized world. What is more, it is particularly intimidating to many non-Sunni communities of the Syrian mosaic. In my opinion. it is the key reason why the opposition has failed to unite. The Islamist groups represent a new tyranny. Rather than measuring a citizen’s rights by his devotion to al-Assad, they will measure his rights by his devotion to God and Muhammad.\u00a0 This is the same mentality that we hoped to overcome. It is undermining opposition unity and plunging us into a civil war without end. Both sides preaching faith in their God and nothing else.<\/p>\n

The opposition is mostly Islamist and they have adopted as their pope the corrupt\u00a0 Sheikh Adnan Al Arour.\u00a0 He twists the Koran to fit the its most radical interpretation. He feeds the anger and instinct for revenge among Syrians with God’s consent and blessing. No other accepted religious leadership exists or has been proffered by the opposition. Many Islamists have been awarded scholarships to the United States, the UK, and France to study (or be studied), there should be a better figure than Ar’our!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Adnan Ar\u2019our, the controversial sheikh, has returned to Syria. <\/a>`Ar`ur who became a hero to many in the revolution for cursing Alawites and regime supporters on Saudi TV. He has returned to Syria from Saudi Arabia. In this video he is the keynote speaker and honored Sheikh at a joint leadership meeting of the Revolutionary Military Councils. al-jazeerah video
\n<\/object><\/p>\n

The Revolutionary Military Councils claim that they represent 80% of the opposition. Their leaders hope that the other 20% will join them soon.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Phil Sands on “Sheikh Adnan Arour’s meteoric rise from obscurity to notoriety”<\/a>, written before the Free Syrian Army adopted Arour as their top Islamic Scholar.<\/p>\n

Syrian rebels reportedly capture President Bashar Assad’s cousin, Reports Sheikh Adnan al- Arour<\/a>,
\nBy Jack Khoury and Reuters | Oct.06, 2012 | Reuters<\/p>\n

Syrian rebels announced Saturday that they have captured Hussam Assad, the cousin of Syrian President Bashar Assad. The arrest was announced on the Twitter page of Sheikh Adnan Al Arour<\/strong>, who is considered one of the Salafi leaders in Syria. Al Arour claimed that his men successfully captured Hussam Assad, who is one of the men at the center of Assad’s security establishment.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A sect in the Middle: Syria\u2019s Alawites endure considerable resentment<\/a>
\nOctober 06, 2012 By Marlin Dick, The Daily Star<\/p>\n

\u00a0….More than one FSA battalion has named itself after Ibn Taymiyya, the 14th century Sunni Muslim scholar who urged the extermination of Alawites as heretics.<\/p>\n

This kind of act cancels out any favorable rhetoric or actions by other elements of the FSA, some of whose spokesmen often promise to establish a Syria that is pluralist and civil, and not religious in character.<\/p>\n

The latest misstep by the opposition was a video issued last week, in which FSA figures announced the unification of Revolutionary Military Councils in a number of major towns.<\/p>\n

While the rhetoric of the event was primarily nationalistic, the guest of honor at the long dais, flanked by a dozen officers, was Sheikh Adnan Arur, the regime\u2019s favorite target of spite \u2013 a hard-line Sunni cleric who has been vicious in his rants against the Alawites.<\/p>\n

For middle-of-the-roaders, the bloody crackdown by the regime against the population is a red line that has been crossed, and means the authorities do not deserve support.<\/p>\n

But Arur is another red line, meaning that the FSA and the hard-core opposition should not be supported either.<\/p>\n

Like other Syrians, Alawites have also been moving in different directions depending on their personal experiences with the violence.<\/p>\n

Many have friends or relatives who have been killed in the battles, or kidnapped and murdered by either FSA groups or criminal elements. Others have known people who were kidnapped and then released safely, which can color the way a person views the rebel cause.<\/p>\n

But as the conflict drags on, people are becoming steadily traumatized by all of the murder and destruction around them, and simply want an end to it all.<\/p>\n

The fear that sect-based ethnic cleansing will break out should the rebels win remains dominant \u2013 but this fear, and the talk that Alawites are being targeted for liquidation, has been present since the beginning of the uprising.<\/p>\n

Every week in which it fails to erupt as a widespread phenomenon is a boon for the sect, and for the country.<\/p>\n

In exhibiting three significant orientations \u2013 pro-regime, pro-opposition and pro-solution \u2013 the Alawites would appear to mirror the rest of society more than people think.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Syrian activists reach across sectarian divide<\/a> – BBC<\/p>\n

…Syrian activist holding sign reading “There are two sects in Syria – the sect of freedom and the sect of the regime” The Nabd movement is trying to promote unity among sects working to bring down the Syrian regime<\/p>\n

While the Syrian conflict has been characterised by fighting between the Sunni majority and ruling Alawite minority, it has also given birth to some movements which aim to bridge the sectarian divide, as Samer Mohajer and Ellie Violet Bramley report from Beirut.<\/p>\n

Nabeel, a 24-year-old Alawite doctor from Homs, describes how he and other Syrian activists first decided to start campaigning against the regime of Bashar al-Assad in the summer of 2011.<\/p>\n

“A bunch of us were having coffee in Homs,” he said. “We wanted to have some influence on our revolution, so we tried to do something to express ourselves, to express our opinions.”<\/p>\n

The result was the creation of the Nabd (or Pulse) Gathering for Syrian Civil Youth – one of the many cross-sectarian movements that have emerged from Syria’s 18-month-long revolt.<\/p>\n

They are designed to campaign against the regime, but also to promote unity among Syria’s religious sects in the face of the increasing role of foreign and jihadi fighters and the characterisation of the struggle along sectarian lines.<\/p>\n

Syrian rebels celebrate in Idlib As violence has escalated in Syria, relations between sects have been tested<\/p>\n

“We started our work in Homs, addressing the dangerous subject of sectarianism,” explained Nabeel. “We organised some protests involving guys and girls from all sects, distributed flyers and put posters up. We campaigned against violence and distributed flowers.”<\/p>\n

Next came a sit-in, in the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood of Homs attacked by security forces, and a week of national unity.<\/p>\n

Quickly, “things escalated until we had cells in every city – Damascus, Salamiyah [an Ismaili Muslim town], and Latakia [an Alawite centre],” said Nabeel.<\/p>\n

The movement now boasts a Facebook membership of nearly 8,000. Events are designed to be inclusive, combating sectarian divisions in Syria through civil action.<\/p>\n

Another founding member of Nabd, Sunni journalist Rafi, describes the movement as civil and secular. ….<\/p>\n

Many Alawites and Christians are supportive of the uprising, but are unable to protest in their neighbourhoods. This failure to protest is read, often wrongly, as the result of pro-regime sentiment. …<\/p>\n

Nabeel argues that the international media is partly to blame for failing to convey the complexity of the conflict, characterising it simply as an Islamic revolution or a Sunni revolution.<\/p>\n

The Free Syrian Army (FSA), the collection of defected army units and armed civilians fighting the Assad regime, are often referred to as wholly Sunni, but Nabeel says he knows of many FSA members from minority groups and even some Alawites.<\/p>\n

“The true activists in the FSA and in the non-violent movement know that there are lots of Alawites working for this.” Nabeel is quick to point out that, while he respects the decision of those who join the FSA, Nabd is “100% against violence”.<\/p>\n

“The Alawite activists are doing us a big favour. Lots of communication devices, medical supplies and relief materials wouldn’t pass to the FSA without their help and that of other minorities,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Syria denies “Apologizing to Turkey” over shelling Akcakale<\/a>
\n(Dp-news)<\/p>\n

Syria\/Turkey- Syria’s Regime clarified that it condoled the deaths of innocent civilians in Wednesday\u2019s cross-border mortar fire incident but had not apologized to Turkey as it “applied investigations to ascertain the identity of those who had carried out the attack.”, according to Syria`s Information Minister statement earlier.<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s permanent representative to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Bashar Al-Jafari announced on Thursday that the Syrian government had not send any apology letter to the Turkish government. He added that Damascus was not seeking an escalation in tensions with Turkey or other countries.<\/p>\n

“The Syrian government has a key interest in maintaining good neighborly relations with Turkey,” ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari told reporters in NY.<\/p>\n

“In case of border incidents between any two neighboring countries, governments should act wisely, rationally and reasonably.” al-Jaafari declared.<\/p>\n

But he called on the Turkish government to cooperate with Syria on controls to “prevent armed groups from infiltrating through this border” to stage attacks in Syria.<\/p>\n

Al-Jafari asserted that \u201cthe Syrian government is working on investigating the accident and not on apologizing\u201d. He alluded to the official statement issued by the Syrian information minister Omran Al- Zoabi, which did not include any apology.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Syria: Hezbollah training Alawite elite force<\/a>
\nSunday 30 September 2012
\nBy Caroline Akoum<\/p>\n

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat- The Syrian military is forming a new elite force of made up of 60,000 fighters, according to a report from the “tar-Tass news agency. The agency cited an expert at the London-based International Strategic Research Institute as saying that “western intelligence has obtained information that the armed security regiments (the shabbihah) that are made up of the Alawite community would be integrated in a division similar to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.”<\/p>\n

The expert pointed out that the preparation and training of this elite division is being done by Iranian experts in Syria who number around 2,000 and added, \u201cWe are expecting the number of government forces to double in the coming months which portends a prolongation of the conflict in Syria and provides Al-Assad’s regime with new prospects.” According to British analysts’ conclusions, this division that is being set up will when necessary provide protection for the Alawite areas on the Mediterranean coast.<\/p>\n

Commenting on this information, the Free Syrian Army\u2019s (FSA) deputy chief of staff, Colonel Arif al-Hamud, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the regime resorted from the beginning of the revolution to forming divisions it called “popular committees” in the Alawite areas that are made up of the community’s members. It armed and subjected them to military crash courses by Syrian intelligence services.<\/p>\n

“But the regime is today resorting to turning these popular committees into military regiments that are sent to the hot areas and the best evidence is what happened in Darat Izzah in Aleppo countryside when the FSA succeeded in killing around 40 shabbihah elements from one village, Wadi al-Uyun,” Al-Hamud told Asharq Al-Awsat.<\/p>\n

“We have confirmed testimonies by officers working in military intelligence and special forces who defected recently confirming that Iranian experts and from the Lebanese Hezbollah have started to run courses for trainees from the special forces and military intelligence, the majority of them Alawites in addition to some Sunni officers. These started in February and are continuing to this day with the course running between three and four weeks in (Al-Durayj) area that is near Damascus which was before then a training center for the Special Forces before the storm troopers and paratroopers’ school was built.” Al-Hamud added.
\nThe FSA’s deputy chief of staff asserted that these officers who have defected had also taken these courses which focused on sniper and individual killing by forming small units capable of carrying out lightning and quick operations.<\/p>\n

Al-Hamud went on to say that these divisions being professionally trained might form the nucleus of a special army that the regime is establishing for the purpose of suppressing the revolution, confronting the FSA and protecting the Alawite state, adding that a large quantity of military equipment and heavy weapons were recently transferred to the Alawite areas.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"Brian Stoddard<\/strong>, “A House in Damascus<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

A House in Damascus <\/em>recounts Brian Stoddart\u2019s experience of living in an old house in the Old City of Damascus near the Umayyad Mosque, immediately prior to the 2011-12 upheavals.\u00a0 The stories come from his daily interactions with \u201cordinary\u201d Shamis, his observations of life in the city, and his reading of its history and culture. Given what has happened since, the hints at the desire for more \u201cdemocracy\u201d, the need for change and the wish for more interaction with the world take on strong resonance, a glimpse of daily life in Damascus on the eve of yet another great change.<\/p>\n

Brian Stoddart is an Emeritus Professor at La Trobe University in Australia where he served as Vice-Chancellor and President. He trained and is widely published as a social historian, is a regular media and social media commentator on a range of issues, and now works as an educational higher education consultant, which is what took him to Damascus where he became fascinated by the city and the country.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Be Wary of Playing Turkey\u2019s Great Game<\/a>
\nBy Con Coughlin<\/p>\n

Syria might be getting all the blame for firing the first shot in the sudden eruption of hostilities on the Turko-Syrian border, but Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, can hardly claim to be an innocent party when it comes to stoking the fires of a conflict that retains the potential to ignite a regional conflagration. …. Like Mr Morsi, the Turkish leader would be happy to see the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria emerge as the eventual victors of the crisis in that country, a development which would lead to the establishment of a network of Islamist governments \u2013 a \u201cSunni arc\u201d from the shores of North Africa to those of the eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

It is highly questionable whether such an outcome would benefit Western interests. And with the Turkish parliament yesterday approving a measure that effectively gives Mr Erdogan a \u201cgreen light\u201d to invade Syria, Nato leaders should take care not to involve themselves in a conflict that only helps to further the Turkish leader\u2019s Islamist agenda.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Delusion of Limited Intervention in Syria:<\/a> Brian T. Haggerty
\n2012-10-04<\/p>\n

With Turkey\u2019s decision to shell targets in Syria in retaliation for a mortar attack that killed five civilians inside the Turkish border, there are new signs that Syria\u2019s civil war could escalate into a broader conflict…..<\/p>\n

While the desire to act to prevent Syria\u2019s conflict from spilling over borders and provide safe haven for the tens of thousands who continue to flee the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad is understandable, the scale of such an operation is bound to be much larger than its proponents have suggested.<\/p>\n

I conducted an open-source analysis to estimate the requirements for establishing command of the air over Syria. The study shows that the effort could require about 200 strike aircraft and more than 100 support aircraft for only the first waves of strikes, making a Syrian intervention many times larger than the opening phase of NATO\u2019s recent air war over Libya. …..A U.S.-backed intervention along these lines, most recently advocated by Qatar and NATO allies France and Turkey, would unfold in two major phases. The first, establishing a no-fly zone, would require a sustained effort to degrade Syrian air defenses in order to achieve command of the air.<\/p>\n

While dense and overlapping, Syria\u2019s strategic air defenses present few serious challenges for Western air power. Most of the equipment consists of aging Soviet-designed surface-to-air missile systems that NATO either destroyed or countered with relative ease in previous interventions over Kosovo and Libya. Because many of these older systems are relatively immobile, it is likely they could be eliminated quickly using an initial barrage of cruise missiles launched from naval vessels in the Mediterranean, in combination with an early wave of air strikes.<\/p>\n

But the Syrian systems have recently been augmented with more advanced and capable Russian designs, including the Buk-M2E and Pantsyr-S1. These and other mobile air defenses pose a larger threat. Should Syria\u2019s mobile air defenses survive initial strikes, they could quickly complicate efforts to use air power to defend a safe zone from attacks by Assad\u2019s ground forces. ….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Salad Becomes Syrian Luxury as Prices Surge in Wartime Economy<\/a>
\n2012-10-04 By Donna Abu-Nasr<\/p>\n

Oct. 5 (Bloomberg) — Syrian concierge Jameel Abdul-Razzak says he can no longer afford to buy cucumbers, tomatoes and lettuce for the daily salad his family is used to.
\nThe price of some vegetables in Damascus has jumped fivefold since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March last year, according to official figures….The economy alone probably won\u2019t bring down the Assad government, said Ayesha Sabavala, an economist at the EIU.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019ve managed to go along with low foreign exchange reserves by reducing their imports and by getting only essential imports,\u201d she said in a phone interview.<\/p>\n

The EIU estimates that Syria\u2019s currency reserves will shrink to $3 billion, equivalent to 4.2 months of imports, by the end of next year, from $19.5 billion at the end of 2010. The country is getting financial support from allies Russia and Iran, Sabavala said. ….The retreat from economic activity extends from big-ticket items down to basic groceries.<\/p>\n

Auto dealer Samir Tarbeen said by phone from Damascus that he hasn\u2019t made a sale in more than four months. \u201cBanks have stopped lending and this made things worse for us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

About 30,000 cars were sold in the first half of this year, a drop from 103,000 a year earlier, according to the pro- government Al-Watan newspaper. ….<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Saudis line up against Syria\u2019s Assad<\/a>
\nBy Kevin Sullivan, Sunday, October 7, 3:25 PM<\/p>\n

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia \u2014 When King Abdullah announced a national fundraising drive to aid Syrian refugees in late July, Saudis quickly donated nearly $150 million.<\/p>\n

Saudi national television hosted a telethon, with banks of men in traditional robes manning phone lines and computers. Donations came by text, by direct deposit into special bank accounts, or from families stuffing crumpled Riyal notes into collection boxes or donating their cars and even their watches.<\/p>\n

Abdullah, normally a discreet behind-the-scenes conciliator, has denounced the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with rare royal rage, and his people have joined in with gusto.<\/p>\n

Beyond humanitarian concerns, Abdullah sees an opportunity to strike a key strategic blow against Iran, Syria\u2019s key ally and Saudi Arabia\u2019s main rival for power in the Middle East, analysts and government officials said in interviews across this oil-rich kingdom.<\/p>\n

Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran each claim to be the world\u2019s true center of Islam. Both nations are struggling to expand their influence in a region upended by popular revolts that are shifting governments and long-standing alliances.<\/p>\n

Assad\u2019s government serves as Tehran\u2019s key pipeline for transferring money and arms to Hezbollah, the Shiite militia in Lebanon. Abdullah sees Assad\u2019s potential ouster as a way to choke off that flow and diminish the influence of an increasingly belligerent Iran, officials and analysts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSyria is Iran\u2019s entry into the Arab world,\u201d said one Saudi official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. \u201cTake down Assad and you inflict a strategic blow on Iran.\u201d<\/p>\n

The official said Iran is \u201creally on the ropes\u201d because of international sanctions over its nuclear program. He said removing an ally as pivotal as Assad would make Iran \u201cmore vulnerable to sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saudi officials have been circumspect about their direct support to Syrian rebels, although government officials privately said Riyadh is buying arms and ammunition, as well as paying salaries for soldiers who defected from the Syrian military to join the rebels.<\/p>\n

Abdul Rahman al-Rashed, general manager of Saudi-owned al-Arabiya television and an influential political analyst, said Saudi officials have paid for Kalashnikov rifles and other Russian-made weapons for defected Syrian soldiers who have been trained on Russian arms. Saudi officials have also financed shipments of millions of rounds of ammunition for the rebels, he said, echoing a common assessment among Saudi analysts.<\/p>\n

Some analysts here said Abdullah wants to do more for the Syrian opposition, but he is being restrained by Washington. They said U.S. officials have discouraged Riyadh from sending heavier weapons, particularly shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, known as MANPADS, to combat Syrian government air attacks. They said U.S. officials are worried about such weapons ending up in the hands of extremist elements among the opposition forces, a concern reported over the weekend in the New York Times.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey wanted to send MANPADS to the Syrians, but the Americans are worried \u2014 the Americans are blocking that,\u201d said Jamal Khashoggi, a prominent Saudi journalist and media executive with close ties to the Saudi elite.<\/p>\n

Abdullah has resisted calls for more military action, including a recent proposal from Qatar for a coordinated Arab diplomatic and military response to Syria\u2019s violence.<\/p>\n

Government officials insist that Saudi Arabia has not sent armed fighters to Syria. Analysts here said a few Saudi militants may be fighting in Syria, but they are not sanctioned by the government.<\/p>\n

Abdullah has cracked down on clerics who have called for young men to travel to Syria, and Saudi Arabia\u2019s official clerics have issued warnings telling young people not to join the fight.<\/p>\n

The Saudi government fears kindling another generation of Saudi religious warriors like those who went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets in the 1980s. Those fighters, including Osama bin Laden, eventually became a radicalized fighting force that turned on the Saudi royal family and gave rise to al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaudis don\u2019t want their youth going there. They do not want to repeat the mistakes of Afghanistan,\u201d Khashoggi said. \u201cSaudis in Syria are a recipe for terrorism.\u201d<\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean it isn\u2019t happening. Simon Henderson, a Saudi Arabia specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said \u201cexporting jihadis is what the Saudis have always done \u2014 to Afghanistan, to Bosnia, to Chechnya.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, the Saudis, both in public and private, say that they are not sending jihadis to Syria,\u201d he said. \u201cDo I believe them? No, although I have yet to see evidence to confirm my suspicions. .?.?. If, as I suspect, we have allowed another generation of Saudi extremist youth to receive battle training, then it is easy to predict the probable consequences \u2014 a new al-Qaeda-type of terrorism, threatening us all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abdullah became the first Arab leader to publicly rebuke Assad in August 2011, when he said the crackdown in Syria was \u201cnot acceptable to Saudi Arabia\u201d and called for Assad\u2019s government to make \u201ccomprehensive reforms\u201d before it is \u201ctoo late.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEither it chooses wisdom on its own, or it will be pulled down into the depths of turmoil and loss, God forbid,\u201d Abdullah said.<\/p>\n

Saud Kabli, political and foreign affairs columnist for the al-Watan newspaper, said the Saudi public was growing increasingly angry about the situation in Syria, which has put pressure on Abdullah to take a tougher stance. \u201cThis is the first time that the Saudi government bends to the will of the people on foreign policy,\u201d Kabli said.<\/p>\n

Abdullah\u2019s relations with Assad have been strained at least since the 2005 assassination of Rafiq Hariri, the former prime minister of Lebanon. The Syrian government is widely be<\/p>\n

\u201cAbdullah was extremely close to Hariri,\u201d said Robert Lacey, a British author who has written extensively on Saudi Arabia. \u201cHariri became a Saudi citizen, he was Saudi\u2019s man in Lebanon. His death was very painful for Abdullah, and he holds a personal grudge against Assad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many here have argued for the government to help overthrow Assad by force, either by more aggressively arming the Free Syrian Army or intervening as part of an international military force.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we should be doing more,\u201d said Sondus Al-Aidrous, 23, a therapist at a private hospital. Like almost all Saudi women, she was fully veiled in black, with only her eyes visible, as she shopped for makeup at the chic Kingdom Mall in Riyadh. \u201cI know we send money, but we should have stopped the violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Saudi public\u2019s connection to Syria is strengthened by the fact that more than a million Syrians live in Saudi Arabia. Jameel Daghestani, a Syrian community leader in Riyadh, said many are long-time residents, but he estimated that up to 90,000 have come to the kingdom to stay with family or friends since the violence in Syria began. Many of them are benefiting from a recent decree by Abdullah that Syrians visiting Saudi Arabia may indefinitely renew their visas.<\/p>\n

Bashir al-Azem, a Syrian who runs a construction company and has lived in Saudi Arabia since 1966, said the Syrian community has raised millions of dollars \u2014 mainly for humanitarian relief, but also to support the rebels. He said he personally has donated more than $530,000, and his company contributed an additional $266,000 during the national telethon.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first six or seven months after the revolution, I said whatever money I send, I do not want it to buy any weapons,\u201d he said. \u201cBut after seeing all the killing, I don\u2019t mind. I tell them, if you need bullets, buy them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reem Fuad Mohammed, 46, a wealthy Saudi from Jiddah whose family is in the construction machinery business, said she was so saddened by televised images of the Syria violence that she collected $500,000 in cash and goods and shipped them to Syrian refugees in Lebanon in May.<\/p>\n

She spent an additional $100,000 of her own money to equip a small health clinic in Lebanon and pay for medical treatment.<\/p>\n

During an interview in her elegant Jiddah home, she picked up her iPhone and dialed Hasna Hassoun, a Syrian woman she met in Lebanon who lost her husband, two children and both legs in a Syrian government attack.<\/p>\n

Hassoun spoke on the phone as she was lying in a hospital bed while a doctor measured her for prosthetic legs. \u201cI was so happy that the people of Saudi Arabia were helping,\u201d she said. \u201cI felt like a whole family was taking care of me.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Syria\u2019s suffering opens a door for Washington<\/a>
\nPatrick Cockburn, Sunday 7 October 2012, Independent
\nWorld View: As sanctions bite in Iran and Turkish shells fall, US is well placed to broker regional peace talks<\/p>\n

….After the US presidential election, Washington could well decide that it is in its interests to go along with Turkish urgings and give more military support to the Syrian opposition. The US might calculate that a prolonged and indecisive civil war in Syria, during which central government authority collapses, gives too many chances to al-Qa’ida or even Iran. It has had a recent example of how a political vacuum can produce nasty surprises when the US ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, was killed in Benghazi last month.<\/p>\n

An ideal outcome from the American point of view is to seek to organise a military coup against the Syrian government in Damascus. Zilmay Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote recently in Foreign Policy magazine that the US should take steps “empowering the moderates in the opposition, shifting the balance of power through arms and other lethal assistance, encouraging a coup leading to a power-sharing arrangement, and accommodating Russia in exchange for its co-operation”.<\/p>\n

By becoming the opposition’s main weapons’ suppliers, the US could gain influence over the rebel leadership, encourage moderation and a willingness to share power. Mr Khalilzad envisages that these moves will prepare the ground for a peace conference similar to that held at Taif in Saudi Arabia in 1989 that ended Lebanon’s 15-year civil war. It is also what the US would have liked to have happened in Iraq after 1991.<\/p>\n

More direct military involvement in Syria could be dangerous for the US in that it could be sucked into the conflict, but outsourcing support for the rebels to Saudi Arabia and the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf may be even riskier. Arms and money dispensed by them are most likely to flow to extreme Sunni groups in Syria, as happened when Pakistani military intelligence was the conduit for US military aid to the Afghan Mujahideen in the 1980s.<\/p>\n

Instead of a fight to the finish \u2013 and that finish would probably be a long way off \u2013 a peace conference with all the players may be the only way to bring an end to the Syrian war. But it is also probably a long way off, because hatred and fear is too deep and neither side is convinced it cannot win. . [Continue reading…<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rebels say West\u2019s inaction is pushing Syrians to extremism<\/a>
\nby C.J. Chivers reports<\/a>:<\/strong>October 7, 2012 – New York Times
\n<\/abbr><\/p>\n

<\/strong> Majed al-Muhammad, the commander of a Syrian antigovernment fighting group, slammed his hand on his desk. \u201cDoesn\u2019t America have satellites?\u201d he asked, almost shouting. \u201cCan\u2019t it see what is happening?\u201d<\/p>\n

A retired Syrian Army medic, Mr. Muhammad had reached the rank of sergeant major in the military he now fights against. He said he had never been a member of a party, and loathed jihadists and terrorists.<\/p>\n

But he offered a warning to the West now commonly heard among fighters seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad: The Syrian people are being radicalized by a combination of a grinding conflict and their belief that they have been abandoned by a watching world.<\/p>\n

If the West continues to turn its back on Syria\u2019s suffering, he said, Syrians will turn their backs in return, and this may imperil Western interests and security at one of the crossroads of the Middle East…..<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Addendum (October 10, 2012): This is a correction sent to me by my friend Thomas Pierret, who follows the sheikhs of Syria closely. Dear Joshua, In your last post on Syria Comment, you write that Adnan al-‘Ar’ur has become a hero for cursing Alawites. I tend to disagree with that for two reasons: 1. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[96],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-syria-revolution-2011"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nSheikh Arour Becomes Icon of the the Revolutionary Military Councils - Syria Comment<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/joshualandis.com\/blog\/sheikh-arour-becomes-icon-of-the-the-revolutionary-military-councils\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sheikh Arour Becomes Icon of the the Revolutionary Military Councils - Syria Comment\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Addendum (October 10, 2012): This is a correction sent to me by my friend Thomas Pierret, who follows the sheikhs of Syria closely. 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